3M CEO Warns Obama His Regs Will Chase Biz Out Of U.S.

pspr · Feb 27, 2011

Manufacturers could shift production out of the US to Canada or Mexico as a result, warned George Buckley, chief executive and chairman of 3M.

âI judge people by their feet, not their mouth,â he told the Financial Times. âWe know what his instincts are â they are Robin Hood-esque. He is anti-business.â

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bd9b4100-429b-11e0-8b34-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1FDHD1kPx

KINGOFSHORTS · Feb 28, 2011

We have shifted manufacturing out of the USA already. Lok at where things are made. From shoes made in china to million dollar cisco switching hardware made in china as well.

The barn doors have been open for quite some time and the horses no where to be found.

nutmeg · Feb 28, 2011

It's odd that automation and robots replace menial labor yet China supplies the menial labor in manufacturing and manages to ship products here in spite of transportation costs. You'd think transportation costs would negate any savings in labor.

Scataphagos · Feb 28, 2011

Quote from nutmeg:

It's odd that automation and robots replace menial labor yet China supplies the menial labor in manufacturing and manages to ship products here in spite of transportation costs. You'd think transportation costs would negate any savings in labor.

Depends upon the "labor proportion" content of the price. In China, workers still make <$1/hr, generally. In America, workers want about $47/hr in wages and benefits. Mighty big chasm.

Couple of years ago, wifey was buying a new bedroom set. We saw what we thought were comparable cherry wood sets in 2 different stores. One set was about $3,600. The other set was > $10,000. When asked of a sales person in the more expensive store, "why such a big difference"? She said, "theirs is made in China, ours in N. Carolina".

CaptainObvious · Feb 28, 2011

And what was the reason when millions of jobs went out of the country when Bush was president? It was slave labor then, and it's slave labor now.

pspr · Feb 28, 2011

Quote from CaptainObvious:

And what was the reason when millions of jobs went out of the country when Bush was president? It was slave labor then, and it's slave labor now.

So, your contention is that Obama's business regulations will have no effect on businesses and jobs moving out of the U.S.?

da-net · Feb 28, 2011

Quote from Scataphagos:

Depends upon the "labor proportion" content of the price. In China, workers still make <$1/hr, generally. In America, workers want about $47/hr in wages and benefits. Mighty big chasm.

Couple of years ago, wifey was buying a new bedroom set. We saw what we thought were comparable cherry wood sets in 2 different stores. One set was about $3,600. The other set was > $10,000. When asked of a sales person in the more expensive store, "why such a big difference"? She said, "theirs is made in China, ours in N. Carolina".

I agree that there is a serious difference in hourly wages. A relative worked for GM and in the mid 1980s he was making about $50 an hour with all the benefits...but was still broke before payday.

There are large markups in furniture pricing, so a price comparison based on production location is not adequate.

There is a huge difference in the quality and safety of machinery coming from China vs USA...especially when it relates to ANSI / ALI specifications on Automotive vehicle lifts and I would think on other similarly built machinery.

CaptainObvious · Feb 28, 2011

Quote from pspr:

So, your contention is that Obama's business regulations will have no effect on businesses and jobs moving out of the U.S.?

What regulations? Obama, other than having a darker complexion, is George Bush. He has given a free pass to Wall Street and Corporate America for past sins, so what's not to like? The jobs are going for one primary reason, and that reason is cheap labor. Labor that is so cheap we cannot possibly compete, so what's the point in trying? The jobs that are gone are gone for good, with more to follow. Dick Cheney could be elected president along with 100 republican senators and 435 republican congressman, the jobs would still go, probably at a faster rate.

pspr · Feb 28, 2011

Quote from CaptainObvious:

What regulations? Obama, other than having a darker complexion, is George Bush. He has given a free pass to Wall Street and Corporate America for past sins, so what's not to like? The jobs are going for one primary reason, and that reason is cheap labor. Labor that is so cheap we cannot possibly compete, so what's the point in trying? The jobs that are gone are gone for good, with more to follow. Dick Cheney could be elected president along with 100 republican senators and 435 republican congressman, the jobs would still go, probably at a faster rate.

Besides the EPA starting to control carbon emissions (an attemt to end around Congress) the main one talked about hurting small business is the new 1099 requirement that goes into effect next year. (slipped into ObamaCare)

Basically, businesses will have to issue 1099s whenever they do more than $600 of business with another entity in a year. For the $14 trillion U.S. economy, thatâs a hell of a lot of 1099s. When a business buys a $1,000 used car, it will have to gather information on the seller and mail 1099s to the seller and the IRS. When a small shop owner pays her rent, she will have to send a 1099 to the landlord and IRS. Recipients of the vast flood of these forms will have to match them with existing accounting records. There will be huge numbers of errors and mismatches, which will probably generate many costly battles with the IRS.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/costly-irs-mandate-slipped-into-health-bill/

CaptainObvious · Feb 28, 2011

A law that will never go through. Taken from Obama's State of the Union:

For small businesses that were dreading the thought of having to produce a Form 1099 for every payee to which they paid at least $600, President Barack Obama offered the prospect of relief in his State of the Union speech Jan. 25 when he said, âWe can start right now by correcting a flaw in the [health care] legislation that has placed an unnecessary bookkeeping burden on small businesses.â

So that's a non starter. The supposed EPA reg's will die as well, and neither of your examples explain the millions of jobs already being shipped overseas by our beloved corporations. It ain't about taxes! It ain't about regulations! It's about wages for labor, period! And unless we can find a way to live on 5 bucks a day, it's over. Sooner than later, we're done as a country. The multi-nationals and their leaders will move and that will be that. Shang-Hi ain't a bad place to live if you're a billionaire.